Conservative TV Staple Addresses Fans Through His Podcast, Saying ‘I Was Very Surprised How It All Turned Out.’

Bill O’Reilly, host of FOX’s “The O’Reilly Factor” at FOX Studios on December 15, 2011 in New York City. (Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)

Former cable news network king Bill O’Reilly broke his silence Monday evening, speaking in public for the first time since a New York Times report revealed that Fox News Channel paid millions to settle allegations of sexual harassment against him by multiple women.

“I am sad that I am not on television anymore,” O’Reilly said in a 19-minute recorded podcast on his personal website.

“I was very surprised how it all turned out,” Mr. O’Reilly added. “I can’t say a lot because there’s much stuff going on right now. But I can tell you that I’m very confident the truth will come out. And when it does—I don’t know if you’re going to be surprised, but I think you’re going to be shaken, as I am.”

O’Reilly will produce the current-events podcast on his subscription-based website four nights a week, but failed to offer any other details about what else fans can expect in the future. Speculation was rampant that he would either join another, albeit smaller, conservative news network or start his own streaming news site similar to Glenn Beck’s TheBlaze.

“I can’t say any more because I just don’t want to influence the flow of the information, O.K.?” Mr. O’Reilly said. “I don’t want the media to take what I say and misconstrue it. You, as a loyal O’Reilly listener, have a right to know, down the lane, what exactly happened and we are working in that direction.”